Ducks roll over St. John's
EUGENE – For the second consecutive day, Oregon jumped out to an early lead and never let up cruising to a 16-3 win over St. John's Saturday in game two of a four-game series at PK Park.
In the first two games of the series, Oregon has outscored the Red Storm 39-8 while batting .440 as a team with a 20-hit advantage (37-17).
How It Happened: Oregon did not waste any time making a statement sending nine hitters to the plate in the first inning. Tanner Smith led off the inning with a base hit, moved to second when the right fielder misplayed the ball and to third on a passed ball. Drew Cowley drove Smith in with a ground out to the second baseman.
Brennan Milone quickly added to the lead blasting the first pitch he saw over the left-center field wall for a 2-0 lead, his second first-inning homer in the series.
The Ducks were not done doing first-inning damage. After a Jacob Walsh single and Josh Kasevich hit-by-pitch, Colby Shade made it 5-0 with a 3-run home run to left-center field.
Oregon added six runs to the lead in the second inning. Milone picked up two more RBI, driving in Smith and Cowley who started the inning with a single and double, respectively. Milone moved to third on a Red Storm throwing error on a Walsh fielder's choice and scored on a Josh Kasevich single for an 8-0 lead.
The Ducks (3-3) added three more in the inning on an Anthony Hall RBI ground out, a Shade RBI single and a Gavin Grant RBI ground out.
St. John's (1-5) got on the board with a run in the top of the fourth, but Oregon answered with a run in its half of the inning. Hall reached on a fielder's choice, moved to third on a Shade single after the center fielder misplayed the ball and scored on a Josiah Cromwick RBI fielder's choice.
The Red Storm cut the lead to nine with a pair of runs in the sixth, but Oregon extinguished any hopes St. John's had with a four-run eighth inning.
Oregon loaded the bases with two outs before scoring a pair of runs on back-to-back bases loaded walks by Cowley and Smith. Walsh capped the scoring with a two-RBI single.
Box Score Notes: Six different Ducks finished with multiple hits, led by Shade (4-for-4, HR, 2B, 4 RBI, 3 R, BB) and Cowley (4-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R, 1 BB) … Both Shade and Cowley had two hits yesterday and have combined for 12 hits, 12 RBI and 11 runs scored in the first two games of the series … Milone (2-for-5, HR) drove in four runs, running his total to six in the series … Walsh (3-for-6) drove in two runs and scored two more … Smith went 3-for-6 and scored three runs … Kasevich went 2-for-5 with a RBI and a pair of runs scored … Andrew Mosiello picked up his first win of the season allowing just one run on three hits in five innings in his second start of the season … RJ Gordon picked up his first career save, tossing the final four innings with four Ks.
On Deck: Oregon will look to clinch the series on Sunday with a win. Isaac Ayon (0-0, 7.20) gets the ball for the Ducks while the Red Storm counter with left-hander Oliver McCarthy (0-0, 6.00). First pitch is at 2:05 p.m at P.K. Park.